University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
UT Martin
Women's Basketball Misses Opportunities Against UT Martin
Dec 03, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's basketball team shot 41.2 percent from the field and had a career-high 16 points from freshman Se'erra Fantroy, but gave up 15 offensive rebounds in a 69-60 loss to UT Martin at FedExForum, Sunday.
"UTM is a team that likes to capitalize on your mistakes, and we committed 26 turnovers and gave them too many opportunities to score off our own mistakes," Head Coach Blair Savage-Lansden said. "UTM is a lot more athletic than UTM teams have been in the past, and they're undersized. You tend to want to block their shots when you're playing undersized post players, but they are very athletic, and against a team like that you have to put a body on someone, and we didn't."
In a game which featured 14 lead changes, Memphis had held a 26-20 lead at the 3:18 mark in the opening half, after the two teams had kept it a one or two point ballgame for most of the first half. But an offensive rebound and stickback from Andreika Jackson and three consecutive Lady Tiger turnovers opened the door, and when Nicole Rivers hit a three at the 1:00 mark, she helped power UTM to the locker room with a 29-28 lead.
The early minutes of the second half featured a number of turnovers on both sides as Memphis turned up the defensive pressure, employing a full-court, man-to-man defense to slow down the UTM offense. Memphis threatened to take the lead after Ashley Thornton got loose for a pair of layups in transition to cut the deficit to 37-36, but both teams then went over two minutes with no one scoring before Phyllisha Mitchell laid up a ball to give the Skyhawks a three-point cushion. The lead would then change hands 10 more times before Crystal Fuller would step to the line to knock down a pair of free-throws that 12-0 Skyhawk run that was fired by eight point from the free-throw line.
Memphis, which had not hit a bucket since Thornton's lay-up at the 6:14 mark, finally found a bucket when Hope Adams grabbed an offensive board and stuck it back to cut the deficit to 62-54 with 1:32 to play. But the Skyhawks would go 5-for-6 from the free-throw line over the last minute and a half to hold off a Lady Tiger team, despite a pair of threes from Fantroy as the clock wound down. In all, 14 of UTM's 25 attempts from the free-throw line came in the last five-and-a-half minutes.
Fantroy led Memphis with 16 points, while Jennings added 11. Ashley Thornton added nine points and led Memphis with seven rebounds in the loss. Andreika Jackson led all players with 17 points for UTM, while Crystal Fuller added 14 and Kimberly Cox added 10. Phyllisha Mitchell led all players with 11 rebounds.
Memphis will have little time to dwell on the first loss to the Skyhawks in 18 games, as the Lady Tigers host Creighton, a WNIT team two seasons ago, Wednesday, at 7 p.m. in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
